Tuesday, May 20`, 2025
Year : 2, Issue: 38
CNBC: Norwegian energy company Equinor will resume construction on its offshore wind farm in New York, after the Trump administration lifted its order to halt work on the project.
Empire Wind 1 will be the first offshore wind project to deliver electricity directly to New York City. The Interior Department under the Biden administration approved the project last year after Equinor signed a lease issued by the department in 2017. But Interior Secretary Doug Burgum ordered construction on Empire Wind to stop on April 16, alleging the Biden administration rushed the project’s approval “without sufficient analysis or consultation among the relevant agencies as relates to the potential effects.” The stop-work order had raised fears among investors that the White House might target other wind projects that had already been permitted and approved.
Equinor said it aims to execute planned installation activities this year and minimize the impact of the stop-work order in order to reach its goal of starting commercial operations in 2027.
Apparent natural gas compromise
Burgum said he was encouraged by Hochul’s “willingness to move forward on critical pipeline capacity.” “Americans who live in New York and New England would see significant economic benefits and lower utility costs from increased access to reliable, affordable, clean American natural gas,” the Interior secretary said in a post on social media platform X. Trump has targeted the wind industry, despite his agenda calling for the U.S. to achieve energy dominance. The president issued an executive order on his first day in office that barred new leases for offshore wind in U.S. waters and ordered a review of leasing and permitting practices. Trump has a long history of attacking wind turbines, arguing that they kill birds and cost more than they generate in revenue. He posted more than 150 times about wind across Twitter, X and Truth Social since 2012, according to a CNBC review of his posts. Empire Wind 1 started construction in the spring of 2024 and is more than 30% complete. Equinor has invested $2.5 billion in the project so far. The company is planning to build 54 turbines that are up to 910 feet tall. Empire Wind 1 will generate 810 megawatts of electricity, which is enough to power half a million homes, according to Equinor.
Equinor Chief Financial Officer Torgrim Reitan called the Trump administration’s order to stop work unlawful, extraordinary and unprecedented during the company’s first-quarter earnings call on April 30. “We have complied with this order. However, the order did not include any information about the alleged deficiencies in the approval,” Reitan said.
Three other offshore wind projects are under construction in the U.S. all located on the Eastern Seaboard. They are Revolution and Sunrise Wind in New England and Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind.
